LG Chocolate 3 on Verizon: July 14 for $129
by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 7th 2008 at 11:02AM
Posts with tag Verizon
Three ISPs, France, Other Countries to Block Child Porn Web Sites
Sprint, Time Warner and Verizon have worked out an agreement with the New York State Attorney General to block access to Web sites and bulletin boards that host images of child pornography. This is a new tactic by law enforcement to stop the dissemination of these images and brings these companies into the effort by making them responsible, to a degree, for the content relayed across their servers and relay points.
Other Internet service providers, or ISPs, are expected to follow the lead of these three companies and are negotiating their approach with the attorney general's office.
Until now, the focus by law enforcement has primarily been on the perpetrators of child porn, those people who create the original images or those who go onto the message boards and Web sites to view or share the illegal content. The responsibility of the ISPs has been somewhat passive, relying on their subscribers to complain about images or other bad content before they would take action.
As the New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo pointed out, the individual ISP subscribers who would most likely come into contact with the illicit images are the very same people who create or intend to share them, so they would be unlikely to report the illegal activity. Still, it was undercover operatives from Cuomo's office who went on to the child porn sites and message boards in a sting operation. These agents then logged complaints with the ISPs, with the expectation that action would be taken to remove the images or block the sites. When the ISPs didn't respond to the complaints, that's when Cuomo's office took action.
ISPs have been reluctant to block Web sites and message boards, saying the nature of the Web makes it difficult to monitor content and determine who is really responsible for illicit content. But part of the agreement to block the sites includes access to an image bank maintained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. When an image with child porn is found, the Center logs it and creates a "digital identifier." Then, if the same image appears on another Web site it can be quickly identified, and even lead to the discovery of other child porn images. Use of this tool and searching method can aid ISPs and investigators as they seek to root out child pornographers.
This move comes at the same time an international effort is ramping up, with Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada and New Zealand already directing their ISPs to create "black lists" of sites that host child porn, and spread terrorist information or racial hatred. The latest country to announce it will join this effort is France, which will have its blacklist in place by September.
Some ISPs, like AOL, have already put major effort into blocking child porn Web sites and message boards on their own. And some social networking sites, like MySpace and Facebook, have already worked with law enforcement to prevent child porn purveyors from making use of their services.
Together, Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner have about 16 million customers. [Source: The New York Times.]
Pearl Jam Offering Free 'Bootleg' Downloads on Verizon Phones
by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 11th 2008 at 8:24AM
Three songs will be captured each night, mixed by a Verizon engineer, then posted to Verizon's V CAST network for download on Verizon Wireless phone the the desktops of Verizon Wireless customers. One of the three will be free for 24 hours after posting, while the other two will cost $.99 each. After 24 hours, that free track will be replaced with another, though the old one will still be available for purchase along with all the others for the duration of the tour.
Underground it ain't -- after all these arent's really bootlegs, are they? -- but if you want to get in on the action, you'll have to download the V CAST Music Manager software. You certainly can't beat the price -- so long as you're quick with the downloading and don't mind one measly track per night. If, on the other hand, you're willing to pay for the full show, head over to PearlJam.com, where pretty much anyone can download MP3 versions of shows for $9.99 (and those will work on any player or phone!). [Source: Pearl Jam Summer Tour 2008]
Major Wireless Carriers Slapped with Text-Messaging Class-Action Lawsuit
What's 4G and Should You Even Care?
by Will Safer, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 5:23PM
When people talk about the future of wireless communication, they sometimes speak of 4G, which is short for Fourth Generation Communications System. This is a still pretty much undefined area of wireless communications, but simply put, it means fast data, voice, and streaming content everywhere you go at any time. And so its also the topic of much interest for wireless companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, which just announced some of their goals for the bigger, better, faster wireless Internet. The FCC is starting to let these companies talk about their plans for the standard, which they say will allow better applications to be developed for wireless gaming, smartphone functionality and remote control of digital video recorders, among other tasks.
While 4G functionality and devices are still a ways off from being available (and 3G is still really in the implementation stage, as well), the fact that the wireless spectrum is being made available for use and development is a big step that could lead to powerful applications being created for personal and business use -- and, of course, to new revenue streams for the service providers (and we all know that's one of the biggest motivating factors for these companies).
The 4G standard will be able to provide speeds from 100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second both indoors and outdoors, with the promise of greater quality and security (and we all know that's something personal and business users want).
What could this mean for you, dear reader? Well, right now, not a whole lot. But soon you'll start to see devices and products, both wireless and plugged in at home, that are more completely integrated.
From BetaNews.
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Verizon Debuts Loopt Service To Track Friends, Pics By GPS
Verizon Wireless is getting in on the friend-tracking game, offering a $3.99 per month service for its GPS-capable phones that allows a user to note the location of a friend or where a picture was taken.
The service, called Loopt, allows people to share their location with anyone in their contact list or in their AOL Instant Messenger list.
Privacy controls are in place so each user adjust security settings. That way you can keep your location private, an important feature in any social network or shared service application where personal information is involved.
Sprint Nextel and its Boost Mobile brand have already included Loopt into its GPS-enabled phones. Helio provides a service that is similar to Loopt. Other wireless carriers have safety plans that allow parents to track where their kids are located.
From BetaNews.
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Verizon Reveals More Open Access Details
As promised Verizon offered up some more details about its open access plans, though some questions were still left unanswered, such as the specific requirements for certification and the price of getting devices certified.
By the second half of the year, the program should be in full swing. All retailers and handset makers will have to do is get their devices certified by Verizon, which claims the requirements are only slightly stronger than industry standards. There will be no limitations on the phones or software that can be run, which means by the end of the year we're sure to see Android and other platforms working on Verizon's high-speed EV-DO cellular data system.
There were two very exciting revelations about Verizon's plans. One, that the open access system will be extended to the company's 4G LTE ultra-high-speed data network, which should enter testing phases by the end of the decade. And two, that Verizon is considering a multi-device flat-rate subscription, which would allow you to use multiple devices on the network for the price of one.
From Engadget and Reuters
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Verizon Saves Voicemail Recording of Man's Late Wife
Every so often it's nice to cover a story with a happy ending. Here's a new one: When Verizon upgraded the phone system in his hometown of Irvington, NY, 80-year-old widower Charles Whiting lost the outgoing message -- recorded by his late wife Catherine -- on his voicemail system. Whiting would call his voicemail everyday just to hear her voice, and feel like she was still with him.Charles said it was the only recording of her that he had.
But lo-and-behold, Verizon had actually archived all of its customers messages, and, after a couple of days of searching, was able to locate and retrieve Catherine's voice message. The message was restored as Whiting's outgoing message and, according to AP, Charles is "very happy."
From AOL News
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BlackBerry Service Suffers Brief Widescale Outage
According to reports, Research In Motion's Blackberry devices suffered a wide-scale outage that began this afternoon around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, according to reports from carrier AT&T. The outage affected all carriers and not just AT&T.The problem has reportedly been fixed, although Verizon indicates it may take some time for it to catch up with delivery of backlogged email to its subscribers.
The last time Blackberry service went out was this past September. After an earlier outage in April 2007, RIM CEO Jim Balsille said, "It shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again."
So much for promises.
We think it is interesting that Blackberry notified its customers via e-mail.
From AOL Money & Finance.
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Verizon Staying Out of Internet Policing Game
With Verizon's extensive DSL network and growing FiOS offerings for delivering high-speed Internet access, the company is establishing itself as a serious player in the Internet Service Provider (or ISP) industry. This is making it a target of Hollywood establishments that want Verizon to start policing its Internet traffic and help those content-producers protect their valuable copyrights that many users flog online. However, Verizon is taking a stand and is, at least for the moment, indicating that it will not be bullied into establishing systems to monitor its users and report on those who break the law.In an interview with the 'New York Times,' Verizon's EVP Tom Tauke indicated that there's no reason for the company to get into this system of policing. Phone companies have largely made an effort to distance their networks with the content that they carry, freeing them from worry about lawsuits if someone said something illegal or indecent over the telephone. The situation is largely the same now, except that more and more ISPs are ignoring that history and installing systems to monitor and track the behavior of their subscribers, turning themselves into ad-hoc police forces.
Tauke believes that any attempt at policing subscribers only opens the door for the ISP itself to be prosecuted if it fails to do an adequate job. Likewise, once you start to police one thing (say, illegal movie downloads) how can you then not police things like music downloading, child pornography, illegal gambling, etc.? The list is endless and will only continue to grow. But, while this is largely Verizon making a sound business move to protect its interests, this move also places it in good standing with many Internet users out there who worry about their online privacy. And, with AT&T indicating it will monitor its Internet users, and with Time Warner Cable indicating it's going to start charging extra for users who download more traffic, Verizon may be the best place online for serious Internet users. Now if only they'd get their FiOS service in more neighborhoods.
From BoingBoing
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Verizon Wireless In Billion-Dollar Lawsuit
Verizon is about to become the target of the largest class action suit ever certified in arbitration. The suit covers the over 70 million former Verizon Wireless subscribers and could have a pay out as high as $1 billion. Yes. A billion. Claimants in the suit are allowed to dispute the $175 early termination fee that Verizon has since started prorating.
Termination fees are meant to cover liquidation damages, which result from a breach of contract. The problem is liquidation damages are hard to quantify, leaving the absurdly high early termination fees vulnerable to litigation.
Just think, with that $175, you'll now be able to pay the early termination fee on the AT&T service you're not so happy with.
From BetaNews
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Verizon Wireless To Let You Use Any Phone On Its Network
Verizon has announced, to the amazement of many of us cynics, that it will be opening up its wireless network to any device that meets a minimum set of technical standards, the specifics of which will be announced in early 2008. Those standards are likely to be something simple along the lines of connecting to the CDMA network that Verizon runs, and that don't interfere with wireless traffic.
In fact Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer, John Stratton, told a Dow Jones reporter that the devices in question need not be phones. He is quoted as saying the types of devices a customer could connect are "subject to the imagination of the marketplace." Hello, Kindle, Zune, and other wireless devices that are not phones.
This means that, if you so desired, you could build your own phone, or mobile Internet device, or even portable video game system with high-speed EV-DO capabilities in your basement on a breadboard, take it or send it to the Verizon labs, and, if it passes muster, connect it to the Verizon network. But that's for geeks like us (or maybe you) -- what's more likely is that people will buy themselves an unlocked phone, or perhaps a phone from a small name builder, or maybe just carry over their Sprint or Alltel handsets. (Phones from T-Mobile and AT&T will not work because those operators use GSM, a different technology than Verizon.)
Verizon also said it would allow users to surf the Web openly and download any independent, third-party applications. This kind of functionality has been available around the world for a while now, but it's a first for the United States. The long and short of it is you'll be able to pick and choose what you want to download to your phone, rather than rely on whatever Verizon offers you "on deck." It also means, most likely, that users will be able to download porn for the first time onto their phones (again, something that the rest of the world has been able to do for a while).
One risk that comes with all this extra access is the increased probability of viruses and other malware on your phone. Because only carrier-approved software has been allowed to be installed on most phones until now, the cell phone space has been relatively free of viruses. Our guess is, this won't be true for much longer.
Exact details on how Verizon plans to implement this groundbreaking new strategy are limited at this point, and what exactly this means for the consumer remains to be seen. But the decision by Verizon to open its network to any hardware or software a customer desires is a game changing event, and one that sends the industry in the right direction. In fact, this is one way for Verizon to allow devices running Google's Android mobile OS with out joining the Open Handset Alliance.
Open access, open source, open everything. Are we seeing the beginnings of the next big shift in the technology industry away from the traditional business models? Can customers expect more choices and more transparency from now on? Time will tell.
In the meantime, we've created a little gallery of our favorite phones that we hope, some day, may make it onto one of our favorite carriers. We've even included the iPhone (duh), but remember, since that phone works on GSM networks, it won't EVER work with Verizon unless Apple decides some day to make a CDMA version of the iPhone.
Gallery: Phones We'd Like to See on Verizon
From BetaNews
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Verizon Wireless 911 Calls Setting Off Alarms
We're more than a little sick of Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" commercials, but a new report from Consumerist puts such an interesting spin on the company's tag-line that we can't help but report it. It seems Verizon is making an effort to ensure that criminals can hear 911 callers from anywhere within earshot. The company is equipping some of its phones with loud alarms that are triggered whenever 911 is dialed.
Recently, a woman in Texas was forced to hang up after dialing 911, thanks to the unexpectedly shrill alarm. She had dialed after noticing her security chain was removed from her property, and was afraid that possible miscreants were still lurking about. Obviously, in this sort of situation, a loud noise pinpointing a 911 caller's location is not exactly ideal.
Verizon claims the alarms are part of an FCC mandate that requires the provider to "offer service that is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities." However, the FCC itself has said Verizon has misinterpreted the requirement, saying, quite clearly: "The Commission has not implemented any rules pursuant to Section 255 that would require the use of any tones concerning 911 calls."
So, here's hoping these tones go the way of brick-sized handsets soon, even though we're betting Iowa 911 operators wish such an alarm were installed on that mystery phone that won't stop calling them.
From Consumerist
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Verizon Pays Up Over Cellular Disconnections
Verizon is finally paying up for disconnecting over 13,000 users due to their breach of an unpublished download cap on its cellular broadband service known as BroadbandAccess. Following a nine month investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Verizon has agreed to pay a fine of $150,000 to the state as well as reimburse users the price of laptop cards or cell phones they purchased to use the service.
In April, Verizon stopped disconnecting users over data usage, but maintained the right to throttle traffic for users who exceed a five-gigabyte limit, which they clearly disclose.
So users of these services should be wary of downloading bigger files like music, since that stuff can easily eat up a monthly five-gigabyte limit.
From the AOL Money & Finance (AP)
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Verizon FiOS Boosts Internet Upload Speeds -- For a Price
Verizon's FiOS service has already been putting the heat on cable providers in the ISP realm, offering blisteringly fast downloads and impressive upload speeds at prices comparable to most cable providers.
Depending on where you live, you can nab a connection at speeds up to 50 megabits downstream and 5 megabits up. Many cable providers have begun to catch up with Verizon in the quest for the fastest download speeds -- for example, Cablevision offers a 30-megabit download package, which matches the fastest Verizon speeds in many markets. At these speeds, a full length album downloads in seconds and a DVD-quality movie in just a couple of minutes.
Most service providers have not put as much focus on ramping up their upload speeds, however, which is what lets you send or post big files quickly. Most cable companies are stuck in the 256 kilobit to 1.5 megabit range, falling far short of Verizon's 5-megabit speeds. But rather than let other providers catch up, Verizon is boosting its upload speeds... for a price.
Verizon unveiled a new 20/20 plan that, as the name implies, allows a 20-megabit download and upload speeds. The plan is only available currently in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. In these markets, the 20 megabit download package is the mid range service and costs $55 a month. For $10 more, Verizon will boost the upload limit from 5 to 20 megabits, allowing users to send data at the same breakneck speeds they receive.
In the new Internet where file sharing and uploading photos and videos is king, a fast upload connection quickly proves its usefulness. Sending hi-def video to friends and family without having to occupy your computer for days becomes a reality, and online back-up services become actually useful.
We'd still rather see Verizon keep the current price points and give us symmetrical service at all levels, but this is a step in the right direction.
From BetaNews
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